February 24, 2005
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PhotoPost: First Full Moon
First Full Moon Photo of the Year 2005
This was taken just this morning outside my back door before the rainclouds swallowed the moon again. I was “late” getting into work this morning because I then downloaded the photos into a new photo program called “Picasa” (from Google) made a few minor ‘adjustments’ in the Picasa program (which supplies organization and enhancement features) and then opened two photos at different resolutions in my Picture Publisher program. I “combined” the low resolution moon image with the higer resolution clouds image and the results are pretty good for a 15 minute “quick photo processing” experiment. I’ll post some of the other photos later today when I’m back home. Last year when I got the digital video/still cam, I made a promise to attempt to photograph every full moon. Here it is a year later and I’m still at it!
As promised, here are some more shots of the full moon, tweaked both in the Picasa and the Picture Publisher for a more refined image.
I was experimenting with multiple exposures and different tints of the clouds to try to get more of a 3-D feeling, but it didn’t quite work. I actually like the 5 minute job at the top better than both of these new ones when all lined up. I wish I could just use the image as shot, but it’s a wonder how sophisticated these computer editing programs are with their slider bars. Sometimes I’ll get the image into the puter and it looks “darker” than on the LCD screen on the camera. So I have to “lighten” it in Picture Publisher. In the Picasa program, you hit the “auto contrast” button or adjust the “fill light” slider, and the image brightens “automatically”. After you “adjust” the image in the program, you “save” the new image to wherever you want to (like my Xanga FTP folder) and the “adjusted” image is shown in the Picasa program, but the changes aren’t made to the real image until you tell it to. I don’t want to get too technical for layman but I’d recommend this program highly, and I’ve got about 7 different photo organizers plus 4 editing programs not including Photoshop and of course my beloved and now sadly dear departed Picture Publisher.
You should really click on the images to get the full size image to appear, because these don’t look as good at the smaller resolution. (Believe it or not I had to go into the HTML to change the photos so they would open in another window (so the music doesn’t stop). I’ve never had to ‘set’ that feature before. Hmmmm.
Comments (16)
Very nice picture. :goodjob:
Bald Mike. That’s a damn fine full moon, Mister.
Any criticism I might have would be of a positive nature.
As to my X’s. I was trying to stick pictures as examples, then I deleted them. However, I guess I didn’t delete them fully. Now I did. Go look! No more X’s!
Gosh our lives are exciting.
Nice! I got a good view of the moon myself when I was flying back to L.A. from Texas. I even got to ride the sunset … had never seen such a thing in my life. Was urgently wishing I had a camera to take a picture of that as well.
WOW!! Love the moon picture, Michael!! It’s beautiful!!!
Thanks for sharing it!!:goodjob:
(((HUGS)))
Great photo, Michael!!! I’ll have to check out that software. I’ve laways used Photoshop but then again I don’t do that much touchup or artistic stuff beyond taking the photo.
Hi Michael!
Just stopping back by again using another Xanga name of mine I have to give extra-eprops with, and I also use it to sign up to extra blog rings, too!
I just had to stop back by again super quick to thank you so very much for you all your kind words. It really meant a lot, and I appreciate it so very much!!!
(((HUGS)))
wow those images are breathtaking. I’ve never bothered to look closely at the moon but those pics really show it in its glory.
Very vivid photos, I wish I could take photos like that. Unfortunately I have about the same luck with a camera as I have with love.
Thank you for stopping by, and for the kind words also.
thanks for stopping by my site. i’m in awe of the moon pics. i’ve tried for-ev-er to do something like this. with slr and digital…to no avail. i’ll get it right one of these days.
thanks again for stopping by.
Dear Michael,
As a baby boomer myself, (born in 1952) I am more than familiar with acid freaks and trips. I’ve been reading Hunter Thompson since I first came upon him in rolling Stone Magazine in the early 70′s. I’ve probably read almost everything he wrote. Lately I followed his bizzare columns on the ESPN website. Bill Murray captured my image of him much better than Johnny Depp did, but I understand that Depp was closer to his actaul persona. I suppose I am flattered that you believed I was younger. I didn’t mind your long comment at all. I have been known for some long ones also.
Before, when I mentioned the professionalism of your page, I failed to mention that I use the Firefox browser. Also, I have an older 500 MHz computer running Windows 98. I have a broadband connection, but your page still takes forever to load. I am usually listening to my own music when I browse the web, but I downloaded your Jethro Tull song because it has been so long since I had heard it. Great song! I had to look at the page source to find the URL. It doesn’t play in Firefox and strangely, the AOL logo appears where the media player is in Internet Explorer. However, when I use IE, the music plays but the page takes even longer to load and I get pop-up windows (blocked by the Google toolbar, thankfully). The culprit, I believe, is those smileys above the comment box. Javascript and Java applets are notorious for taking advantage of security holes in IE, which is why I prefer Firefox. I usually scan a page first and decide if I want to take the time to read thoroughly, and the faster the page loads, the better. If you would get rid of the superfluous doo-dads, maybe 86 the music or provide a link to download it, your page would be much easier to browse through. I usually avoid sites that are loaded with Java, but I came to reply to your very interesting “essay”. I also read a few of the books you mentioned. I wouldn’t say they were my “bibles” though, but they did have a huge effect on my character development. I hardly ever read a book more than once. Thank-you for all the effort you put into making a very artistic and informative site. I hope my suggestions are helpful.
I believe Hunter Thompson died honorably. I think a man should have the right to decide when he wants to die, without people labeling him as troubled or a coward.
Benjamin G. Brabbin, hack, dreamer, smartass
(P.S. Like the pics. Sorry about the criticism.)
:goodjob: Boobdoodly is an ass! :fun: I just made your first “moonshot” my wall paper. :coolman: I love smileys!
I don’t know if I can contribute much to this conversation as it is going at the moment, so I’ll just redirect it. These pictures are fantastic. The clouds look like hands holding the moon. Well captured. :fun:
The pic reminds me of a lyric from an old obscure Rockabilly tune (aren’t they all?):
“Stop, stop the world! Get my off this crazy ball.”
I’ve got a sudden urge to frame one of those. May I? (Note, my asking is no guarantee that I’ll get round to it…) ~x~
I love to shoot photos of the full moon, too. Yours are eerie and beautiful.
S2
Breathtaking beauty !!! It looks like it could be floating in our own atmosphere. Fabulous !!!:coolman::goodjob::wave: